Campbell continues leadership of Browns

Cleveland Browns quarterback Jason Campbell is ready to build off last week’s performance and lead the team to a victory over the Baltimore Ravens before going on the bye.

In his first start with the Cleveland Browns at the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, quarterback Jason Campbell completed 22 of 36 attempts for 293 yards and two touchdowns and carried a 105.4 rating against one of the NFL’s top defensive units.

As he enters his second week as the Browns’ starting quarterback, Campbell is looking for progress, first, from himself, then, the offense, and lastly, the team as a whole.

“Every week is an opportunity to grow,” Campbell said Wednesday. “Just watching the film from last week, there may be one or two plays that you can’t just get out of your head because you wish you could have those one or two plays back. It’s the same as every other player on the team. I do believe that the more you play, the better I can get a chemistry with the guys.

“Our emphasis is to play four full quarters. We haven’t done that just yet. In the games, we’ve played a good half or a good quarter. Our goal is to start to put together four quarters of football, be more consistent with what we’re doing. That way, we can strive and move forward as an offense and as a team.”

Campbell said it seems the Browns play a top defense every game, and this Sunday will be no different, as the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens come to FirstEnergy Stadium for an AFC North Division contest.

Campbell knows the key to success, especially within the AFC North, is discipline during the week of preparation, both in the meeting rooms and on the field.

“From that mindset and that standpoint, you have to stay focused,” Campbell said. “You have to focus on the details of the game. It’s a lot of studying film; it’s a lot of studying what we’re trying to do. It’s trying to cram a lot into a really short window, and using my experience has given me an opportunity to understand some of those things.

“Anytime you’ve got (outside linebacker Terrell) Suggs and add a pass-rusher like (Elvis) Dumervil, those two guys coming off the edge are big-time players. They’re still the defending Super Bowl champs. They’re coming into the mindset of a ‘must-win’ as well. It kind of puts a playoff atmosphere to it. They still have playmakers on that side of the ball, and we understand that we’re going to get their best shot.”

And withstanding that “best shot” and going into the bye week on a positive note after fighting through a three-game losing streak is exactly what Campbell and the Browns are looking for from Sunday’s game.

“You want to go into the bye week feeling good about coming back and getting our own streak going,” Campbell said. “We want to end this streak and start going on a winning streak. The only way we can do that is by getting the first one. This is a very important game for us. We’ve got three tough losses in a row coming into this week. It’s big. It’s a division game, it’s a home game, which makes it even bigger.”